Chapter 7 - Erik
ERIK
Iver and Ariana stepped inside my room. Her eyes met mine before she looked away, a blush spreading across her cheeks. She seemed uncomfortable holding my gaze for the first time I could ever recall.
“How was your talk?” I asked, looking from Ariana to Iver before returning my attention to her.
There was a pause of hesitation. Her gaze drifted briefly to Iver, who made no sign of answering the question. “It was good. Iver has agreed to help.”
“All of my Lysians are at your disposal. We will all help,” I stated, knowing that was not exactly what she meant by it. So, my assumptions of him, perhaps being a conjuror, proved correct.
Ariana’s gaze flickered to my brother once more, and she inclined her head towards me. As if inviting him to elaborate.
Iver sighed, drawing my attention. “She means I will help with my conjuring.”
I always suspected he harbored a gift. Yet hearing his admission still stirred something uncomfortable within my chest.
My gaze narrowed. “And why now?” He had years to step up, to help. However, he never did.
“Ariana says she trusts you with her life,” he stated.
I release an irritated breath. “So, you place so much weight on her opinion of me? A woman you hardly know. Over me, your brother.” I was trying to keep my growing anger from escalating.
“If your prisoner trusts you that much then, yes.” Iver shrugged as if it were that simple.
“She was...” The words died on my lips. Ariana had been my prisoner. That fact weighed on me.
“Iver’s conjuring is impressive,” Ariana said, breaking the tense stare between my brother and me. “He is more of a threat to my people than even you are.” She took a single small step towards me before stilling. “And you will have that power under your command now.”
I snorted, gaze slicing to Iver. “I always had that power. I let you keep everything a secret.”
He nodded, accepting the truth of my words.
“You did. You’ve never known the extent of my conjuring, however, and still don’t.
I am not so sure you would have had the same restraint if you’d known sooner.
In fact, you likely would have used me here when you went on your mission to break the treaty.
A lot more Bavadrin lives would have been taken. ”
My jaw clenched.
Ariana took another step towards us. “Even if you would have conjured, Erik would have still heard me call out his name when he was about to… take a life.” Ariana’s attention settled on me, her face softening.
Hurt swam in her eyes as she remembered the day I broke free and captured her.
The significance of those emotions only compounded with the torment Landin’s death brought her.
“I do not doubt that Iver’s conjuring wouldn’t have changed how things progressed between us after that.
” She then turned to Iver. “This is useless to discuss. Just show him what you can do.”
“Very well.” Iver took two steps towards me. However, before his second step, there was a brief disorientation before him, and it was as if he had walked through something. He vanished, only to reappear in another corner of the room.
That was not the end of his tricks.
He then held up his hand, fire burning from his fingertips.
It was remarkable.
“How is that possible? You have more than one conjuring ability?” I could hardly grasp it.
Iver shrugged. “Conjuring intrigued me, and so I learned.”
Surely, I misheard. “You simply learned all of this?”
“Yes.”
“If Ariana was to show you what she can do, how long would it take you to learn it?”
“It depends on the complexity. It’s always different.”
Ariana’s head tilted as if in thought. “Then who taught you to reappear in another location?”
“No one teaches me, but I suppose that is beside the point. I used to have a friend who vanished long ago. She couldn’t move her body the way I could, but she could multiply and move objects. I found her gift so fascinating.”
Ariana frowned, intently watching Iver. “Show me.”
Iver casually looked around the room, leisurely walking through it. He stopped at a desk and picked up a feather quill. There was a brief glimmering distortion next to his hand, and when he moved the feather through it, several feathers surrounded him, suspended in the air.
“Malavika.” The name was barely a whisper on her lips, yet it drew our attention like lightning. We knew that name.
“Where have you heard that?” Iver pulled the feather back, his hand dropping at his side.
“She was there. A Lysian, working for Clause.” For a moment, we all stood silent until Ariana asked, “But she can’t disappear and reappear like you?”
“No,” Iver shook his head, placing the feather on the desk. Though he answered her question, he looked distracted. As if his mind was elsewhere. “She can only use objects. I mimicked her conjuring and pushed myself to develop it into my ability to move through it myself.”
My gaze lingered on that feather, discarded on the desk. Something harmless, but what if it weren’t a feather? What if he held a blade? “I still don’t understand. All this time, you’ve been hiding such a unique ability. Such power. Why?”
Iver smiled, though it did not touch his eyes. “I don’t wish to be anyone’s puppet or attack dog. I also don’t want to be placed in a position where I am forced to fight you because of a fundamental disagreement.”
Disgust coiled in my stomach at the insinuation. “You thought I would force you to use your conjuring in ways you didn’t want to?”
“You have always had a bit of an aggressive streak. Yes, you have a heart and love those important to you. But you also do not hesitate to destroy what is in your way. Father sharpened your quick brutality on the Lysian rebels, ensuring you would always be swift to act and merciless.”
Anger surged through me as I twisted away, taking a few small steps before turning back. “I would never have forced you to do something like that.”
Iver shrugged. “Easy to say now.”
“Stop it.” Ariana stepped between us. She faced Iver. “What are you trying to prove? Why are you trying to push him?”
He snorted. “You haven’t learned a thing, have you? Still stepping between two Lysians when you shouldn’t.”
She let out a breath. “You are in my home. I asked for your help and am grateful for it, but please stop trying to get everyone riled up. Everything is stressful enough. I cannot handle more problems coming from my friends and allies.” Tension tightened around her, seeping through her and into the room.
Something shifted in Iver then. His brows furrowing. “What’s the matter?” His gaze then lifted to mine. “What do I not know?”
Ariana looked up at me over her shoulder. “He doesn’t know what’s going on?”
“Not completely.” The Lysians and my brothers knew nothing other than Ariana returned, and that we were discussing plans moving forward.
She turned back to Iver. “Clause killed Landin. He invited me to come to stay in the Sidhe lands for some time. If I refuse, then he said he would destroy us. In efforts of stalling and trying to give us more time to prepare for this war, I am going to go back there again.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Iver stated, brows knitted in concern. To his credit, it sounded as though he truly meant it.
“Thank you.” Ariana’s voice was soft, sadness clouding her eyes.
Iver shifted his attention to me. “Why did you not tell us? All we were told was that Ariana returned, that we were going to continue preparing for war, and that the Bavadrins will stand with us.”
“I needed time to figure things out.”
“Time to come up with a different plan?” He smirked, looking at Ariana. “Erik wants to stop you.”
“No one can stop me,” she said at once.
His lips curled. “From what I witnessed earlier, you using your mist to make him cough. It doesn’t look like you have much of a choice if Erik truly tried to.”
She took a step towards him, head tilting as if she wasn’t sure if she heard correctly. “I’m sorry. Were you not there at the end of this last practice?”
I could still practically feel her mist in my lungs, stealing the air. The sensation of it burned and lingered. None of it was comfortable.
“Oh, you think you were in control?” Iver shook his head with a laugh. “That was an illusion. My brother gave you control. He could have reclaimed that power at any moment and burned you to ash.”
A growl rumbled through my throat. “Ashes, Iver. Stop trying to rile up trouble. There’s enough of it already.”
Rolling his eyes, he turned towards me. “Oh, please, Erik. Don’t tell me you haven’t considered just tying her to a bed and going to war without more of a plan.”
Ariana’s heart skipped a beat.
Iver’s gray eyes fastened on her. A slow smile spread across his face. “Well, well, well. Perhaps she would enjoy being tied to a bed.”
“Iver,” I snapped.
He, of course, ignored me.
“What a lovely rose color on your face.” Iver stepped towards her. “Tell me ar-” His voice cut off, and his hands went to his throat. Ariana’s abilities stripped oxygen from his lungs.
A shimmer appeared around him, and Iver vanished, reappearing in another part of the room. Still choking.
“That won’t work,” Ariana said before releasing her conjuring.
Iver coughed violently as his lungs burned for air. “Not–” he gasped between breaths. “Nice–”
“You know what isn’t nice?” Ariana addressed him with a bitter tone. “You putting your dirty little fingers where they don’t belong.”
Iver straightened after gulping down a few more breaths. Though by the gleam in his eyes, he was far from finished. “My fingers are not dirty. Though if you would like for me to place them somewhere more pleasant, all you need to do is ask.” He smirked suggestively.
I snapped.
The distance between us shrank in the blink of an eye. I threw him up against a wall. My hand gripped his throat, and I nearly crushed it while keeping him pressed against the stone at his back.
“Erik.” There was a flicker of alarm in Ariana’s voice.
Iver’s gaze fastened to mine, and for once, he did not speak.
His hand wrapped around my wrist reflexively before he froze.
The pulse in his neck warmed my palm with every beat of his aggravating little heart.
The blood barely squeezed through where I applied enough pressure to finally render my brother silent.
“Your games end now,” I said between clenched teeth. “I do not have patience for this. Is that understood?”
“Yes.” The word was hardly audible.
I released him, and he braced himself against the wall, hand at his throat for the second time in the last few minutes.
His attention found Ariana. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect you.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Then what was your intent?”
“Partially to see how you both react under a little pressure.”
Ariana shook her head as though she couldn’t believe him.
“To test me,” I stated. “Your tests and games end here, or I will see it as a sign that you wish to be King yourself.”
“You know that isn’t what I want,” Iver stated, looking at me.
Ariana pivoted, walking towards the door. For how exhausted I knew she was, she carried herself with her head held high and a powerful stride. “I’m tired. I’m grabbing food and going to bed.” She stated before leaving without waiting for a reply.
“You’re lucky I don’t incinerate you,” I growled at my brother. I didn’t know if I even could, for he had fire-conjuring abilities himself. That realization angered me even more.
His gray eyes settled on me. “You are awfully protective of our new Bavadrin friend.”
“Your point?”
“No point, just an observation.”
“Go to bed, Iver.” My dismissal of him was crystal clear.
He pouted. “I just got here and so was not yet given one.”
I opened the door and angled my head towards the hall. “Not my problem. Now, get out.”
Iver pretended like a full-body shiver ran through him. “Oooh, Icy,” he said before finally taking his leave.